The Electric State's co-director Joe Russo has reflected on softening the dark tone of the graphic novel in the adaptation for the screen.
The sci-fi film has just been released on Netflix following its February cinema run. Starring Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown and Marvel's Ke Huy Quan and Chris Pratt, the movie adapts the illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag and tells the story of an orphaned girl looking for her missing brother in an alternative 1990s.
While Stålenhag's original story has a more obscure appeal, the Russo brothers felt its technology message would benefit from a more family-friendly angle — and Stålenhag agreed.
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"It's an interesting shift away to a more family appeal tone, because we felt like the message about technology that was in the graphic novel was most important to be heard by younger audiences, and we wanted to make sure that they would watch the film," Joe Russo told ScreenRant about the approach he and his brother Anthony took with their adaptation.
"And so, it is a broad appeal movie. It is a family film. A 6-year-old could watch it, an 80-year-old can watch it, and everybody in between [can watch it]."
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Russo continued: "We felt like the message was the most important for the six- to 18-year-old range – that generation that's immersed in technology."
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As for Stålenhag, Russo said that the author's experience as a father made him more lenient to accept the changes made to the source material.
"Simon Stålenhag, who created the book, has two daughters, and he felt it was also really important," Russo said.
"He said he created the book in a vacuum, as sort of a way for him to express how he felt about technology in the world, but he didn't intend that to be the only expression of The Electric State, and he felt it was really important that the story also reach his children."
Stålenhag previously spoke about the changes made to his graphic novel, reassuring fans that he was onboard with the direction the film took.
"Yes - the tone and mood of the film is a quite sharp deviation from my book, but that is not because a failure of the film but simply because the genre has shifted from cyberpunk thriller to adventure/action," he wrote on Instagram.
"So, once you're onboard for that, this is a great ride of a film.
"But most importantly - this film has a big HEART and underneath its lighthearted charm it actually carries social values that really resonates with me and feels true to the humanism that I wanted to convey with the book."
The Electric State is streaming on Netflix.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
